Shut Up I Am Dreaming
by Sunset Rubdown
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 52 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 52
  3. Negative: 3 out of 52

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  1. Vampire25
    Jun 13, 2013
    5
    I can't say I'm the biggest fan of this album, I can't even say I'm a huge fan of this band. Some tracks on this record really linger and twiddle around with no real payoff. Not to mention the vocals in some aspects are truly awful. Their are a couple silver linings to be exploited though. The closing track is fantastic, and the instrumentation is spot on, but Spencer Krug just doesn'tI can't say I'm the biggest fan of this album, I can't even say I'm a huge fan of this band. Some tracks on this record really linger and twiddle around with no real payoff. Not to mention the vocals in some aspects are truly awful. Their are a couple silver linings to be exploited though. The closing track is fantastic, and the instrumentation is spot on, but Spencer Krug just doesn't sound emotionally invested in it as he should.

    All In All, Shut Up I Am Dreaming has a few great ideas, but ultimately falls under it's own weight of ambition. C    … Expand
  2. StefanS
    Oct 15, 2006
    9
    A fantastic album. Last track, Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings, is amazing. Us Ones in Between is also worth a mention. I prefer elements of Sunset Rubdown to Wolf Parade, but after all, they are different albums. Do yourself a favour and listen to this worthwhile effort.
  3. KevinM
    Sep 16, 2006
    10
    My favorite album of the year, each song builds up beautifully and climaxes just as excellently. Songs like "I'm sorry i sang on your hands" and "us ones in between". "They Took A Vote And Said No" is rollicking, and "Shut Up I'm Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings" is masterful. Check this album out if you liked Wolf Parade and see what you think. It's also a little My favorite album of the year, each song builds up beautifully and climaxes just as excellently. Songs like "I'm sorry i sang on your hands" and "us ones in between". "They Took A Vote And Said No" is rollicking, and "Shut Up I'm Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings" is masterful. Check this album out if you liked Wolf Parade and see what you think. It's also a little more conventional to the out-there band "Frog Eyes".… Expand
  4. JohnN
    Sep 1, 2006
    10
    Unbelievable. New, fresh, experimantal. I loved Wolf Parade's full-length, so I checked this out. Very different, but what it lacks in danceability, it makes up in eerie soundscapes that range from lush and expansive to little trickles of carefully placed discord. The lyrics are incredible, too. Lines like, "I've heard of creatures that eat their babies. I wonder if they think Unbelievable. New, fresh, experimantal. I loved Wolf Parade's full-length, so I checked this out. Very different, but what it lacks in danceability, it makes up in eerie soundscapes that range from lush and expansive to little trickles of carefully placed discord. The lyrics are incredible, too. Lines like, "I've heard of creatures that eat their babies. I wonder if they think about the taste," create a Boschian world of melting color and twisting space.… Expand
  5. 7ranzL
    Aug 30, 2006
    10
    This album is absolutely amazing. The lyrics are absolutely gold. It is different then Apologies. It is a much slower album. The only glimpse of Krug's slow side on Apologies was Dinner Bells. Here we are granted to alot slower songs (with notable exceptions such as They Took a Vote and Said No). Shut I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings is on par with Krug's great This album is absolutely amazing. The lyrics are absolutely gold. It is different then Apologies. It is a much slower album. The only glimpse of Krug's slow side on Apologies was Dinner Bells. Here we are granted to alot slower songs (with notable exceptions such as They Took a Vote and Said No). Shut I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings is on par with Krug's great I'll Believe in Anything. The theme of Water is used in the album throughout. Such as Ghosts in Apologies. Oh and to the reviewer who called this plagarism to Apologies. Um...No. You can't plagarise yourself. And when you review...listen to the CD. Preferable multiple times. This album is a grower no doubt. So throwing it aside quickly would be a mistake. It is like disliking Radiohead's Kid A because of one listen.… Expand
  6. JadH
    Aug 28, 2006
    10
    Spencer Krug is a genius. This album is the best of 2006 thus far and Apologies to the Queen Mary was the best of 2005. I especially like "They Took a Vote and Said No" "Us Ones Inj Between" "The Empty Threats of Little Lord" and of course "Shut Up Im Dreaming of a place where LOvers have Wings."
  7. TristramC
    Aug 13, 2006
    5
    Miikey S's comments meant a lot to me as the two albums he sited are two of my top favs of the year. I have not heard this album and am inclined to just take the plunge expect for the fact that so far this cd sounds so close to Wolf Parade I could believe it was the follow-up to Apologies For the Queen Mary. And um, plagarism sucks.
  8. ChrisL
    Aug 8, 2006
    10
    Spencer Krug is my hero!
  9. TonyW
    Jul 30, 2006
    9
    I picked up this album after hearing the Wolf Parade LP. I was stunned the moment i played it, the emotion Krug exhales on this album is breathtaking, i can't get enough of it. Each song has an incredibly distincty feel to it and are very easily idientifiable from eachother. I love this album, its my favorite of the year. Its even easy to like on the first listen. If you like I picked up this album after hearing the Wolf Parade LP. I was stunned the moment i played it, the emotion Krug exhales on this album is breathtaking, i can't get enough of it. Each song has an incredibly distincty feel to it and are very easily idientifiable from eachother. I love this album, its my favorite of the year. Its even easy to like on the first listen. If you like accessible beuitful emotional catchy music, this is for you.… Expand
  10. MikeyS.
    Jul 24, 2006
    10
    This is pure gold right here. Along w/ the Destroyer and Neko Case releases this is my favorite of the year. Krug has some genious poetics here and the music is crazy good to boot. Definite 10, buy it.
  11. TchsatoriS
    Jul 23, 2006
    10
    The Emotional impact of this album is almost overbearing, I rarely give a '10' but on this occasion it would be a travesty to give any less.
  12. GSpot
    Jul 18, 2006
    9
    I love to subject my children to this album. This is a very good album. What really gets me is, while listening to a song, the piece goes from good to awestriking great in a millisecond, then back to good. It keeps me comming back for more listens because the shifting style and layered sounds. Lyrics are a bit out there but most of us are anyway so it's easy to relate to.
  13. OysterBoy
    Jul 16, 2006
    9
    My favorite cd of the year. A side project that would be anyone's daydream job. There are many reviews giving this cd its just rating. If you are not convince with the metascore, surf the web. Listen to it first, though. That should be enough. So far, it's my "Illinois" of the year.
  14. David
    Jul 16, 2006
    9
    This has a rating of 80 now, why isnt on the 'best of 2006' list?
  15. matta
    Jul 5, 2006
    10
    Album of the year. I will donate my left testicle to my local hospital if something better than this comes out this year. Even better than Wolf Parade's full-length debut. The lyrical imagery and musical compositions on this album are stunning. Sorry if this review has sounded like complete and utter hyperbole, but the album really is that good. I would like to meet the reviewers of Album of the year. I will donate my left testicle to my local hospital if something better than this comes out this year. Even better than Wolf Parade's full-length debut. The lyrical imagery and musical compositions on this album are stunning. Sorry if this review has sounded like complete and utter hyperbole, but the album really is that good. I would like to meet the reviewers of Tiny Mix Tapes, Billboard and Lost At Sea that reviewed this album and shove my fist up each of their asses. They do not deserve to be reveiwing music.… Expand
  16. Shari
    Jun 27, 2006
    9
    This album is absolutely heartbreakingly gorgeous - yet, it is also actually interesting to listen to. It's a bit of a contradiction. A good contradiction. I didn't even know Wolf Parade had two different singers until I saw them live, haha. Congratulations to Spencer Krug on making such a magnificent album.
  17. EliasK
    Jun 27, 2006
    9
    1st listen - Quirky 2nd listen - A haunting opera bound for darkness and madness 3rd listen - A Fantastical creepy carnival 4th listen - Marvelous
  18. TerenceR
    Jun 14, 2006
    10
    Absolutely refreshing. The best of the year by far. It just keeps growing on you. I just can't stop listening to Shup Up, I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings. Genius.
  19. Charlie
    Jun 13, 2006
    10
    It's June right now and so far, this is my album of the year.
  20. CarlW
    Jun 4, 2006
    9
    This is one of the most refreshing albums I've heard in a long time. Whenever it approaches being cheesy or overdone, it's always rescued by its ambiguousness and bizarrely creative nuances. Lost at Sea's writers should learn how to spell before bashing such interesting releases.
  21. IncognitoPotato
    May 29, 2006
    9
    Wow. What a pleasant surprise. On rare occasion do members of a solid band produce any kind of 'side-project' album that worth more than a few listens. This is a subtle, profound statement filled with a sadness and candor that requires great attention.
  22. Jeremy
    May 24, 2006
    9
    When Krug writes "Shut Up!" I believe he is referring to "Lost at Sea." When he writes "I Am Dreaming" I believe he is referring to the current trend for "Lost at Sea" to employ deaf music critics. When he writes the rest of the album (and Sunset Rubdown plays it), he teases perfection.
  23. mattg
    May 24, 2006
    10
    spencer krug is one of the best songwriters out there right now. a true poet. just saw them live in chicago and they blew me away. so if you get the chance to check them out.......do it!!
  24. Sean
    May 24, 2006
    10
    Easily my favorite album of the year so far. The reviewers who gave this yellow reviews probably only gave it a few listens and judged it upon that. This album is the very definition of a grower. I've listened to it nearly twenty times now and it still keeps getting better with every listen. Spencer Krug is one of the most important, and talented, songwriters working today.
  25. Ian
    May 21, 2006
    9
    The yellow-area scores are assuredly based on the having been built up notion in those critics' minds that Sunset Rubdown would just be a sad spin-off of Wolf Parade. This is as nerdy an analogy as they come, but "Shut Up I Am Dreaming" is to "Apologies to the Queen Mary" what Next Generation was to the original Star Trek. Seriously, this is a great record.
  26. DrJimmy
    May 20, 2006
    10
    This album is more emotionally powerful than Wolf Parade's. It may be my #1 album of the year, it's brilliant.
  27. joeyl
    May 20, 2006
    10
    If you love Wolf Parade, get this now! If you don't love Wolf Parade... what in the hell is your problem? Seriously, the similarities to Wolf Parade are there (they begin and end with Krug's contributions to WP), but this brilliant piece of work should be judged on its own merit. If you're a fan of indie rock, I'd be shocked if you don't love it.
  28. KellyWalrus
    May 20, 2006
    10
    As close to perfection as Spencer will get (at least on his own.
  29. RobertA
    May 17, 2006
    10
    Wolf Parade's Apologies to The Queen Mary was a wonderful album. I didn't think I was going to like Sunset Rubdown's debut more than Wolf Parade's. But....Somehow...I can't stop listening to this album. At first I couldn't decipher what track I was on. The Album just sounded like one whole song. Then as I listened on the songs broke down into 10 pieces of Wolf Parade's Apologies to The Queen Mary was a wonderful album. I didn't think I was going to like Sunset Rubdown's debut more than Wolf Parade's. But....Somehow...I can't stop listening to this album. At first I couldn't decipher what track I was on. The Album just sounded like one whole song. Then as I listened on the songs broke down into 10 pieces of work. It's hard to believe some of the critics aren't feeling these tunes as much as me. The good thing is...I Like It!...and another good thing is there are now TWO bands that are really wonderful. Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown. Two different pieces of cake from the same cake. And If I like what I hear. Then nothing else matters!… Expand
  30. robertg
    May 17, 2006
    9
    Could very well end up in my top 5 albums of the year.

Awards & Rankings

56
#56 Best Album of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Billboard
    60
    "Shut Up I Am Dreaming" is a grower, and doesn't grab you by the ears like Wolf Parade's debut did.
    Read full review
  2. cokemachineglow
    84
    The sobering after-party to Wolf Parade’s debut.
    Read full review
  3. Pitchfork
    86
    The cumulative effect of Shut Up I Am Dreaming surpasses "I'll Believe in Anything"'s ostensible perfection. That's a brilliant song, yes, but this a brilliant album, ballooning with those sorts of moments on repeat.
    Read full review
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